Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Closest You'll Ever See Me in a Bikini.

Tuckered out from my long weekend away, I was scrolling through old photos to inspire me for today's post, and I found a classic. About five years ago, I visited Portland to attend the PPK's first Vegan Gathering. It was a super-fun weekend, and I cemented many good friendships from the experience. One of the nights, I had the opportunity to cook a big dinner for my hosts and a couple of friends.

While I don't make it too often, Daksini Murgh (veganized from an old Madhur Jaffrey chicken recipe) is a delicious and rich dinner to make for a special occasion. In the version pictured below, I used a local pre-fried tofu as the protein and served it with aloo paratha (an Indian flatbread stuffed with seasoned potato) and a soy yogurt raita.

I've noticed since going xgfx, I don't cook Indian food as much as I used too, and I imagine it's the fault of the flat-bread, which I really miss. Hopefully, I'll figure out an ace xgfx stuffed paratha recipe soon. In the meantime, while working on PTLEF last year, I came up with a teff based chapati style bread that fits the bill with Indian.

Chapatillas. I like to use these in a bunch of ways: as tortillas for soft tacos, taquitos and quesadillas, or as chapatis to scoop up saag or other yummy Indian stew. If you're an awesome dough whisperer, you might even roll these big and thin and use for burritos.

Makes 10 5" "wheat-ish" flatbreadsWhat You Need:

2/3 cup teff flour

2/3 cup sorghum flour

2/3 cup superfine brown rice flour

1/3 cup potato starch

2 tablespoons tapioca flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons finely ground golden flaxseed

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup coconut oil, solid

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water, divided

What You Do:

In the bowl of a food processor, combine all of the dry ingredients and pulse quickly to combine.

Add the coconut oil and pulse until it's evenly combined and the flour has a sandy consistency.

Add in 3/4 cup of the water and pulse to mix--the mixture should still be crumbly and dry. Slowly add in up to 1/4 cup more water. Turn off the machine and check the texture of the dough. It should be soft and pliable, not dry or crumbly. If it's still dry, slowly add in up to 2 more tablespoons water in small incremements, pulsing as you add it in, so the dough doesn't get too wet. The finished dough should come together easily and will be quite moist, but not wet.

Divide the dough into 10 golf ball sized balls and cover with a cloth to keep them from drying out while you form each Chapatilla.

A tortilla press works best for these: press the balls between parchment paper as thin as you can--about 1/16th". Otherwise, roll the balls out into circles, between parchment, as thinly as you can possibly get 'em.

Wipe a cast iron or non-stick pan with a smidge of oil and place over medium-high heat until the pan is pipin' hot. Take the top layer of parchment off of a dough circle and flip the Chapatilla over into the pan, gently removing the second piece of parchment, which should now be on the top. Cook until the bottom is set and brown spots form about 30 seconds, then flip and cook the other side the same way. Flip the bread one ore time, and using a spatula, gently begin to press down all over the bread. When it begins to fill with air and to balloon on one side, gently press down on the air bubble. This will encourage the whole thing to fill with air and develop a flaky center.

Transfer each Chapatilla onto a plate stacking them under a clean dry cloth, and repeat until they're all cooked. By the time you complete the last one, they will have steamed under the cloth and become soft.

Serve while still warm, or reheat in a microwave or steamer until pliable.

xo
kittee

This blog, has joined with over 600 others, to celebrate Vegan MoFo - The Vegan Month of Food. Learn more about MoFo by visiting Vegan Mofo Headquarters.

These sound so good, and I especially like the inclusion of teff flour. I don't include that in my day-to-day life nearly enough. Have you checked out the gluten-free naan over at Vegan Richa? I tried her gluten-full naan, and it was great. It could be worth checking out! http://www.veganricha.com/2012/01/glutenfree-naan-flat-bread-vegan.html

i love the name of the chapatis. chapatillas!:) i can eat wheat and is till dont make parathas often enough. i have a gf naan recipe that i havent tried as a stuffed naan yet. time to rethink parathas!

These are affiliate links to my cookbook, and to the griddle I use for making really amazing, large, homemade teff injera! If you're planning to order via Amazon, please consider purchasing through my blog (I'll earn a small commission on each sale).